If you do, and you would like to get more interaction with aquarium hobbyists (i.e. AQ members), AQ can automatically read your RSS feeds and post your new blog entries as AQ threads. This should encourage more views and interaction. AQ will of course preserve the links back to your blog.

You can control what gets published to AQ by using categories/labels/tags, so no need to worry that non-aquarium related posts gets here.

We hope you have found AQ to be useful and informative. Membership on AQ is FREE. If you have not already done so, register and join our community of Aquarium addicts. If you get blocked as a "spammer" while registering please come back to this page and read this post.

If you have already registered but have forgotten your user name and/or password, use the Password Recovery Form.

Indefinite BAN of Shrimp Sales on AQ w.e.f. from Monday 20th Aug 2012

We have decided to disallow the sales, giving and trading of shrimp through AQ from Monday, 20th Aug 2012 onwards until further notice.

This will appear once only per visit to AQ. If AQ is down, go to our Facebook page for status updates.

Sunken stomach Poor appetitie Cardinal Tetra

Advertisements

Dear all

My 50 cardinal tetras used to be very healthy in my 4 feet tank. Until I got 30 Normani lampeye and I recently notice that the cardinals are not eating well. They start to spit out food that they used to like like frozen brine shrimp etc, and are very easily scared when someone walks by the tank. I also notice that a few have very sunken stomach region and look very thin. Otherwise their color and speed of swimming still remains bright and fast. No abnormal posture like upside-down etc when not swimming. Breathing rate is not increased. I have not noted any dead cardinal tetra yet, but they look like if they dun start eating they are soon going to die. []

The Normani lampeye (aka Blue Eye Lampeyes) are still as lively and appetite is voracious. In fact they are getting fatter and bigger. Rest of occupants in tank like coral red pencils, cory, clown killies etc all healthy.

Over the weekend I went to various fish shops around the island and found that many of the fishes in various shops actually have this sunken stomach problem too. The problem mainly exists among neon tetra, cardinal tetra, rummy nose tetra and even in danios. Even some of the cardinal tetras in display tanks in established shops also have this sunken stomach but bright color appearance.

Hence I came to a few possible reasonings,

First, either a form of internal parasite of some sort is causing the problem and this parasite is actually very common in the water of tanks in various shops.

Second, maybe the sunken stomach is only due to malnutrition due to competition for food. In this case, my cardinal tetras are probably too timid to fight with the Normani lampeyes for food, hence becoming malnourished.
So, anyone with similar problems with fish compatibility as well?

So, what do you all think? Maybe if you go and look at your fishes now you may notice a few with more sunken stomach as well?

I also noticed this same problem with my apistos. They just simply waste away. Funny thing is that they continue to eat normally for close to 2 weeks, while the stomach continues to shrink over this time. Eventually, just 1 or 2 days before it dies, it will stop eating completely. Already lost many apistos this way.

Funny thing is that my pencils and otos (and SAE) are not in the least affected by it.

A couple of my cardinals and even pencil fish have succumbed to this unknown too. But strangely, they do have appetite and are in that horrible state for a month or two, they only lose their appetite one or two days before they succumb to this sickness and die.

I have given up in treating my fishes. 0% chance of survival after treating them in a hospital tank, once they lose appetite or cannot swim properly, its HAMMER time! To end their suffering and my worries I have stopped replenishing my fish stock. I only have about 10 cardinals and 6 SAEs in a 4 foot tank

Anyone here, actually cured their fish?

Are medications sold in the shops just marketing, just to make fast bucks out of hobbyists?

My cory has been doing the summersaults and landing upsidedown. But I have twice successfully treating it with Sera Baktopur, one of the best medication I have ever used. (I have had about 75% success rate using it.)

Now the cory is schooling with my espei rasbora in my 5 gal tank. (Is there medication for identity crisis? :P )

I think the cause of the illness was poor food. I have been using the fish food for I think 1 year (can't find smaller bottle of sinking tablets). IMO, good quality fish food and balance diet is essential for good fish health.

geez, I recalled someone posted a pic of fish TB and how it can infect humans in the Chit Chat forum. Not a pretty pic at all. Sends the shivers down my spine. If it's really fish TB, better remove the infected fish.

But i have found out that by removing the sick fish to a separate tank, the chances of recovery is very low, almost 0. Theres a higher chance if the fish remains in the main tank and treatment is given to the tank with the other fishes. I have few occurences taht the sick fish actually recovers with no fatality from the rest of the population.